SYR's pie from the recipe, photographed by Irving Schild for The Kosher Scene

Every so often I get a pecan pie urge, for me, means I need to make one. On one such occasion I discovered I didn’t have the corn syrup, the traditional sweetener. The serendipitous replacement was maple syrup, which adds its own great flavor as well as sweetness. I also found a store-bought frozen pie shell – my standard go-to when making this, especially when its part of a big-deal holiday menu. Feel free, of course, to make your own crust, but a bought shell works beautifully here and saves toons of time. Using chopped and whole pecans adds textual interest.

Convert It

To make this dairy, use unsalted butter in place of Margarine

Ingredients

One 9-inch frozen pie crust

1 1/2 cups pecan, 1 cup coarsely chopped, the remaining whole

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 cup pure maple syrup

3/4 cup packed light sugar

1/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

3 tablespoons margarine, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Cover a cookie sheet with foil and place the pie crust in it. Spread the chopped nuts over the crust and arrange the whole nuts on top. Set Aside.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, syrup, sugars, eggs, margarine and vanilla. Stir to blend and pour over the nuts. Bake until the filling is set and slightly puffed, about 60 minutes. Transfer to to a rack to cool before serving.

Easy to make and superb tasting… who can ask for anything more? Enjoy, gentle reader, enjoy!